Senior Fall Prevention
Senior Driving: When Should a Senior Should Give up the Car Keys?
Learn why giving up the car keys can lead to social and physical decline.
It’s one of the most difficult decisions we face as we grow older, and a highly sensitive issue for adult children to broach with their senior parents: unsafe driving, and the need to explore giving up the car keys. Driving a car, while offering a great sense of freedom and independence, can become risky due to a number of variables. And giving up that independence in order to remain safe can feel defeating.
On the other side of the equation, we need to take into account the latest research findings that show that giving up driving can lead to both mental and physical decline. Giving up driving, can lead to health decline through isolation, despondency, and reduced physical activity.
The study, as shared in … Read More »
Home Care Expert Tips: When a Senior Resists Home Care Services
Find tips for seniors who resist home care services.
Getting used to the reality that a senior you love needs help at home can be challenging. Even more difficult is talking about home care services with the senior and encouraging him or her to acknowledge that assistance is needed. If you have viewed changes in your loved one and you sense the need to initiate speaking about home care as a possibility to improve safety and independence in the home, try some of these conversation starters from the home care team at Hired Hands Homecare to raise the subject in a subtle, non-confrontational way.
If heightened frailty is growing to be a concern:
“I love you, Dad, and now that you’re living by yourself, I’m concerned about your safety. I know someone who can help us to make … Read More »
Safety vs. Independence for Senior Parents
Learn how to strike a balance between safety and independence for senior parents.
It’s a disagreement that develops for a number of families: senior parents adamantly like to age in place in their own homes, while their relatives are worried about their safety. And there’s a debate to be made in both scenarios. Seniors, especially those who live alone, confront many different risks: falls that could bring about serious injury, challenges in preserving way of life to which they’ve become accustomed as aging advances, even a susceptibility to fraud artists. Yet independence for senior parents is vital to self-worth, regardless of age.
Defining a balance that suits the requirements of both sides may very well be difficult, but there are several important factors to bear in mind that will help.
Let go of ageism. While there is certainly credibility to worries … Read More »
Napa Senior Living: Senior Safety Gets a Boost with These Simple Exercises
The home care experts at Hired Hands outline simple exercises to improve senior safety.
The CDC reports that as many as one-third of all seniors fall each year, and surprisingly, less than half of those seniors talk to their doctors about it. When a senior experiences a fall, even if it does not cause serious injury, she can develop a heightened fear of falling, which may result in limited activities, reduced mobility, loss of physical fitness, and in turn, an increased risk of falling again.
In our last blog post, we discussed some home modifications you can make to improve senior safety and reduce the risk of falls. In addition, there are a number of exercises that seniors can do on a regular basis to increase muscle strength and improve balance, which will not only help reduce … Read More »
Prevent Senior Falls with These Tips From Hired Hands Homecare
Hired Hands Homecare offers tips to prevent senior falls.
Falling is never fun, but for an older adult, a fall can result in devastating effects, like a fractured hip, which can escalate to a full range of additional health problems. A full 25% of seniors who fracture a hip end up dying within six months of the injury; a shocking, yet preventable statistic.
Taking time to make some simple modifications to the home can help create a safer environment for your senior loved ones and help prevent dangerous senior falls. Below are some easy home modification ideas from the home care Marin CA services team at Hired Hands Homecare that can be implemented to help lower the risk of falls for the elderly.
Lighting:
Replace light bulbs routinely to ensure there is sufficient illumination in … Read More »
Petaluma Home Care Tips: Better Balance = Better Senior Health
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Learn tips to improve balance for seniors
mproving balance is one of the best ways to improve senior health, particularly when it comes to preventing falls. Once an older adult has experienced a fall, the initial impulse may be to decrease physical activity to lower the possibility of falling again, but it’s essential for older adults to optimize their overall muscle strength and balance and stay as active as possible.
These balance exercises, recommended by the National Institute on Aging, are a great place to start (after first receiving approval from the senior’s primary care physician):
One Foot Stand: Grasping a sturdy chair for balance, lift one leg just a bit and hold the position for 10 seconds. Repeat the exercise 10-15 times and then switch legs.
Heel to Toe Walk: Position the … Read More »
Fall Prevention: Keep Seniors Safe with Help from Our Tri Valley Home Care Experts
Hired Hands Homecare shares details on how to keep seniors safe from falls.
You may have at one time been by a senior loved one’s side at the hospital or doctor’s office and noticed the medical worker attaching a colorful “FALL RISK” band to his or her wrist. Notifying those providing care to this possibility allows additional measures to keep seniors safe during medical treatments. However, did you realize that ongoing, everyday life can pose a fall risk danger to those diagnosed with the following conditions?
Arthritis
Osteoporosis, a bone density disorder that can also increase a person’s chances of fracturing a hip
Vertigo
Cerebrovascular insufficiency
Neurologic disability (stroke)
Postural hypotension (sudden decrease in blood pressure)
Diabetes
Read More »
